Sand and Seas

Enterprise, National and Alamo share the same building at Port Canaveral. All three companies also share the same shuttles. The shuttle drivers walk in the building and announce what ship they are delivering to next. Shuttle service seemed very efficient.

We had a great experience using Enterprise for a rental car. We picked it up at MCO, stayed two nights pre-cruise, then turned it in morning of the cruise. Their car rental return is actually at the port and has a free shuttle to your ship. The rental building & shuttles are shared with Avis. After our cruise, we used Cruise Control for shuttle back to MCO. They have small shuttles so you don't need to wait for a large bus before leaving for the airport. Our driver was texting to us so that we knew he would be picking us up in five minutes.....and there he was😎 We were really impressed with Cruise Control.

I have gone to the guest services desk a couple of times and requested XX dollars of my bill be charged to another credit card. (Different rewards on different cards) Each time they have confirmed with me which card I want to use for the remainder of my bill. Super easy to change credit card if you wish.

We told our butler we like chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate dipped pineapple. We had one or the other every day😋

On our recent 11 day April cruise on Joy, I think there were three different lunch menus. Sorry, I didn't take photos.

So glad to hear that MDQ is safe....hopefully for years more🤞 We saw MDQ and your very talented son & DIL in late May. I think part of the reason we love that show is they always have very talented singers who actually play their own musical instruments. We also loved Broadway Unplugged. Again, the MDQ performers plus a few more put on a very enjoyable show. Was just sad it was only once during our cruise.

Thanks for posting this great video of your suite! Two bedrooms AND two bathrooms....luxury for a family. Can't wait to hear more about your cruise. Have a great time😎

Yes, and on Getaway it was the a free venue too. (I think it was Flamingo Grill?) Both changed to Margaritaville for awhile. It's a great covered outdoor venue that I'm amazed they haven't done more with. It is definitely a waste as a paid 'American Diner'. Utilizing them for a complimentary overflow breakfast bar is helpful, but just imagine if they would add a complimentary lunch burgers & salads. Less stress on the buffet.

We agree! Cruise Control was excellent and very responsive. When our airline changed us to an earlier flight they were able to easily change us to another shuttle. Their shuttle vans only hold about 10 people so you aren't waiting for a large bus to fill up.

Thanks for sharing your experience with Haven upgrades. I've read of a lot of people getting upgrades to lower categories, but you don't often hear of successful upgrades from Balcony or Club Balcony to Haven. Were your successful upgrades for regular 7 day cruises or longer? I ask because looking back at the upgrade emails we have received I've noticed that the starting bids for 10, 11 & 12 day cruises are very close to the starting bids for 7 days. I'm wondering if those longer cruises are generally not as full and many of them are definitely not 'prime' sailing seasons. Looking ahead to some cruises I have been watching, there is Haven availability in mid-fall cruises yet not much in January out of Miami...which appears to be a very popular month to sail! Of our 40plus NCL cruises, we have only been in the Haven three times. Loved those cruises but we are perfectly happy with our regular Club Balconies. However....maybe I need to place a few upgrade bids just in case🤔

Yes, my three certificates didn't have a number but the Exec Host had signed. If you have a certificate signed by a host you have some sort of proof. I also noticed that my Final Bill had a line item for the CASNext certificate but of course no $$cost to me. I would suggest you call the main CAS number and ask for a supervisor. Tell them the cruise date you were on and that you have a CASNext certificate in your possession. If they still can't find anything about it perhaps you can send them a photo of your certificate. I've successfully used three certificates so far. One was applied to a cruise already booked and the other two went for a new booking. These were all processed about a week after my cruises ended.

We loved our first cruise out of Galveston last October. I'm glad NCL is adding cruises from there. Absolutely loved staying two nights in Galveston prior to cruise. Came home and booked another 11 day out of Galveston to the ABC islands. Toughest part for those of us flying in.....transportation to Galveston! Found some help on the Gulfport departures board.

Wow....I hope this isn't the new norm for CAS booked reservations. Had no problem booking our October dinners three weeks ago. Please report back when you get through to CAS.

I have gotten them twice and used each one about a week after cruise end. I could not see them on my account. CAS agent couldn't see it about 3 days after so we waited and tried again a week after cruise. Did the Host give you a certificate?

We've only cruised out of Port Canaveral once, but found it easy to rent a car at MCO and drop it off two days later right at the port. Lots of hotels in PC area. We stayed at Cocoa Beach just a few miles from port. Enterprise, Alamo (and one other?) have a car rental return at Port Canaveral. It's a shared building and they have a shared free shuttle to the ships. Very easy to catch a shuttle to/from the ships. The waiting area at the rental building is large & comfortable. You just wait for a driver to announce a shuttle to your ship. Very quick & easy. Others will have more experience to advise you, but I wouldn't try to do anything after disembarkation except head to MCO with an 11am flight. We were first on the ship (priority disembarkation) with all of our luggage at 8 and on our small bus shuttle to MCO at 8:15. (If you are using a large bus shuttle, it could take longer to load.) Nice 45 or 50 minute drive to MCO, but the airport was a series of long lines to drop off bags and then go through security....and we have TSA Pre-check! I felt sorry for those in the even longer lines. This was on a Saturday in late May. I don't know if it would be any better on any other day. An 11am flight would have been stressful. Ours was about 12:30.

Great advice above. I would add some comfortable waterproof shoes. Our Alaska cruise was in early September and there were a lot of rainy days. The ones I found were comfortable enough to wear on the plane. I wore them around the ship when we were going to be in and outdoor all day.

Yes, our first choice will always be an Away+ ship. However, they usually have Breakaway or Getaway out of New Orleans and we can combine a cruise with our annual SevenStar trip.

My CASNext have not been visible to me, but they are to the CAS agents. I have gotten them after two cruises now and each time it has taken 5 or 6 days after cruise end for the agents to see them there.

We stayed at Best Western Cocoa Beach, just a few miles from the port. Loved walking on the pier & beach.

We definitely aren't interested in Starbucks, so this bakery sounds good for our pre-cruise breakfast! We haven't cruised out of NY for several years and last time was a red-eye flight then straight to the pier😬 Now that we are retired, we were looking for a hotel close to pier so we can just walk over when ready to board. Lots of searching on the Eastern departures board and decided on Ink48. The rooftop bar sounds amazing. Cost for our upcoming stay is over $300 for the night but the location is perfect for us. Love your idea of a walk along 12th avenue in the evening before our cruise! Walking over to the port on embarkation morning is a relaxing start to the cruise for us. No worries about traffic & transportation. We also enjoy walking to port in New Orleans and Boston (staying in Seaport area).

That sounds like it is close to our hotel (Ink48)! Will need to check out this bakery😋

Yes, there is plenty of room . Very much like our M6 cabins on other ships. We had two loungers, two chairs, and a large table.

We rented a car at MCO (Orlando airport) and then returned it at the Port. There is a rental return right at the Port for Enterprise, Alamo & and one other? They have a quick and easy shared shuttle to your ship. There are a lot of hotels in the area close to the port. We enjoyed staying at the Cocoa Beach Best Western. It's just a few miles from the port. (There are actually a couple of fun places to eat at the port!) Our hotel was right on the beach and had a decent free breakfast😎

So glad you made the ship! Nice to hear NCL & the port was watching out for you. We were last on Encore pre-Covid shutdown. We loved everything about that cruise! You are helping us get excited about sailing on Encore again early next year. Thanks for sharing your review with us😎

It's such a great venue. I wish they would put more shows of some time in there.